The EU can’t agree on the list of candidates for sanctions

The EU Council of Ministers reached consensus on imposition of sanctions against representatives of the Yanukovych regime very quickly but can’t agree on specific candidates, the EU Observer reports

According to an EU diplomatic source, the list of names on the blacklist of sanctioned people “will be very limited”. It will mostly include “leaders of repressive entities” such as the Interior Ministry and SBU, Ukraine’s Security Service.

The diplomat added that there were heated debates on specific names that should be on the list. However, after the list is promulgated through the Official Journal of the EU it will come into effect.

“In the light of the current visit of European Foreign Ministers (to Kyiv – Ed.), the terms of sanctions may be flexible if the Ukrainian government accepts a compromise decision,” the diplomat said when he spoke of the visit of the French, German and Polish Foreign Ministers to Kyiv who reported on the outcome of their visit via a videoconference.

The diplomat also said that some EU member-states want to have representatives of “radical” opposition groups in the list. Others claim that this will be a controversial signal that both sides should be held accountable for the situation.

“There is no clear unity on this aspect so far. We could have the list tomorrow but we can’t agree on the effective list so it is better to wait a few days,” the source believes.

According to earlier reports, the EU is imposing travel bans against people involved in violence against protesters and freezing their assets.